Prosecutors Seek 3 Years in Prison for Lori Drew

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Prosecutors Seek 3 Years in Prison for Lori Drew

Prosecutors who won misdemeanor convictions against Lori Drew last year have asked the judge to imprison her for the maximum sentence of three years. They rejected a recommendation from probation officers that Drew be given only probation and a $5,000 fine.

"Defendant has become the public face of cyberbullying," prosecutors wrote in their filing to the court (.pdf). "A probationary sentence might embolden others to use the Internet to torment and exploit children."

Drew was convicted last year on three misdemeanor counts of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in what is believed to be the nation's first case related to cyberbullying. Drew was found guilty of violating MySpace's terms-of-service agreement in helping to create a profile page that was used to harass 13-year-old Megan Meier, who killed herself.

Each of the three misdemeanor convictions carries a possible maximum sentence of one year and $100,000 fine.

But in a pre-sentencing report sent to the court from probation officers, the officers (taking into account Drew's lack of criminal history and other factors) calculated that Drew should be sentenced at level 4 of the sentencing guidelines, which refer to a 0-6 month sentence. They then recommended to the judge that Drew be given probation instead of jail time, along with the reduced $5,000 fine.

Details of the pre-sentencing report became public only because Drew's defense attorney, H. Dean Steward, filed a response to the report, which wasn't sealed. Steward wrote the court that he agreed with the probation recommendation, but felt the $5,000 fine was too harsh, and that Drew was not equipped to pay it.

Prosecutors on Wednesday disagreed with the probation officers' recommendation and asked the court to sentence Drew to 12 months for each conviction, plus a $5,000 fine and one year of probation. They wrote that Drew's role and use of minors in the scheme merited bumping her sentencing level up 10 notches. Drew was accused of creating the fake MySpace page with her daughter, who was 13 at the time, and an 18-year-old employee named Ashley Grills. Trial testimony revealed that after Meier committed suicide, Drew had contacted another 13-year-old girl who knew about the MySpace page, and told her to keep silent about it.

"[A] sentence above the guideline range is appropriate given that a primary objective of the offenses was to inflict emotional harm and the offenses both risked and actually caused substantial psychological harm and severe emotional trauma that resulted in [Megan Meier's] death," prosecutors wrote.

The prosecutors say that the harsher sentence is also warranted because, even though the jury did not convict Drew of a felony violation "because it could not reach a unanimous verdict that defendant's conduct was in furtherance of a tortious act," legal precedents from the Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit "have determined that a sentencing court may use acquitted conduct to determine a defendant's appropriate sentence."

In other words, even though the jury found Drew not guilty of a felony, the court can sentence her as if she were.

They cite the Supreme Court case, U.S. v. Watts: "acquittal on criminal charges does not prove that the defendant is innocent; it merely proves the existence of a reasonable doubt as to his guilt."

Drew is scheduled to be sentenced in Los Angeles on May 18th. U.S. District Judge George Wu, however, still has to rule on a motion for a direct acquittal. Drew's defense attorney filed that motion after the prosecution rested its case last year on grounds that the prosecution failed to prove that Drew knew about the MySpace terms of service or that she intentionally violated it.

If Wu grants the defense motion, it would overturn the misdemeanors for lack of evidence, and result in a judgment of acquittal.